American Graduate

Southern Education Desk

Light Antennas

Video Overview

Scientists at an Army research lab are creating tiny antennas inspired by a beautiful insect, the luna moth. The female moth emits an infrared light wave to attract a faraway mate, whose antenna is specially designed to receive that signal. With this model in mind, these researchers in Natick, Massachusetts, are designing even smaller antennas -- made from carbon nanotubes -- that can capture visible light waves. In nanotechnology the best way to study light is with lasers, which make the light source very controllable. Using lasers and specially designed carbon nanotubes, they have been able to achieve almost 100% transfer of energy. The scientists' question is; how do we make something useful out of that energy?